Category: VEGETARIAN

A CRUST OF BREAD & A CORNER TO BLOG IN…LIFE IS!

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

Have been on an Indian flatbread making spree of late. Recently rediscovered a book that I haven’t used in a while…The Indian Menu Planner. The recipes in this book have been put together by the master chefs of the Welcomgroup Maurya Sheraton Hotel & Towers, New Delhi. With loads of naans popping up every now & then, that was the first bread I wanted to try, & the second on my list was tandoori roti, an unleavened bread made from wholewheat flour. Both came out delicious. The naan needs prior preparation as it is a leavened bread, but the tandoori roti can be made with about 30 minutes in hand.
To make these flatbreads, I use a contraption substituting a tandoor. It is basically a simple ‘black box’, with a heater element, under which a metallic tray slides in like a drawer. It goes up to very high temperatures & is ideal for making these; each bread takes 2-3 minutes.
The oven serves the purpose quite well though, just takes a wee bit longer! These breads are ideally served fresh & hot with Indian meals like a butter chicken, dal makhani, tadka dal, tandoori chicken, vegetables, smoked butter paneer, kebabs etc.
NAAN as adapted from the Indian Menu Planner…
Naan…A light leavened Indian bread that can be made rich by applying butter when ready.
Naans are traditionally cooked in a Tandoor or earthen oven but can also be made in your oven at home. Serve this delicious bread hot, with popular dishes like Tandoori Chicken or kebabs of different kinds. The dough for Naans needs to be made in advance so factor that into the preparation time.
“Crusty, yet tender, delicious NAAN…”
My entry for CLICK:September 2008 @ Jugalbandi
…the call this month is for ‘CRUSTS’!

Ingredients:

Flour -2 cups
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Soda bicarb – 1 tsp
Baking powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Milk – 4 tbsps
Yogurt – 7 tsp
Sugar – 3 tsp
Oil – 3 tbsps
Water -1 cup
Method:
  • Sieve the flour, salt, soda bicarb & baking powder into a kneading platter / bowl.
  • Whisk the milk, yogurt & sugar together.
  • Make a well in the flour, add the cup of water & milk mixture & knead to a soft, smooth dough. Add more water if required.
  • Cover with a moist cloth & keep aside for 10 minutes.
  • Add the oil & knead again until all the oil has been absorbed by the dough.
  • Cover with a moist cloth, & keep in warm place for 2 hours until the dough rises.
  • Divide the dough into 10 balls. Flatten & sprinkle nigella (onion seeds, not Lawson), melon & sesame seeds. Cover & rest for 5 minutes.
  • Roll & flatten each ball within your palms. Stretch dough to one side to give the naan an elongated shape.
  • Place the naan on a greased or foil lined tray & bake in hot oven, at 190 degrees C for 10 minutes.
  • Brush with melted butter or ghee if desired & serve immediately.

Tandoori Roti as made from The Indian Menu Planner
A popular unleavened, wholewheat flour bread, baked in cylindrical clay ovens or the tandoor. It is the staple bread of most of rural North India.
Ingredients:
Wholewheat flour – 2 cups
Salt – 1 tsp
Water to knead
Clarified butter/ghee to grease baking tray (I lined my tray with foil & omitted the ghee)

Method:
  • Sieve the flour & salt into a kneading platter / bowl.
  • Make a well & pour in about 300 ml (a little more than a cup) of water, & knead to a soft dough. Add more water if desired. The dough should be silky smooth & not sticky.
  • Cover with a damp cloth & set aside for 20 minutes.
  • Divide into 8 portions. make into balls & dust with flour.
  • Pat & flatten each ball with the palms of your hand to make 6″ wide discs.
  • Place on greased tray/foil lined tray & bake for 5-6 minutes in an oven preheated at 180 degrees C.
  • Brush with melted ghee if desired. Serve hot.

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Posted by Deeba @ PAB

APRICOT CHUTNEY…A RELISH TO RELISH!

“I am giddy, expectation whirls me round.
The imaginary relish is so sweet
That it enchants my sense.”
William Shakespeare

This chutney is LONG overdue. On my last chutney post, way back in May, my sweet Greek friend Ivy @ Kopiaste had asked for a fruit chutney. With that in mind,
I bought some dried Turkish Apricots to make a fruit chutney for her; then life took off in some other direction.
The poor apricots sat silently in the corner of my cupboard lost in oblivion. I tripped across the poor mites day before, & put making this chutney on priority.
At that time, Ivy said of my green chutney…”This sounds lovely. This is something I would like to try when and if I find fresh coriander. Thanks for explaining what chutney means. Please post a fruit chutney.”
I’m sorry it’s taken me this long Ivy…but better late than never I guess! This one’s for you!!
Chutney is a term for a variety of sweet and spicy condiments, usually involving a fresh, chopped primary vegetable or fruit with added seasonings. Chutney, as a genre, is often similar to the Indian pickle and the salsa of Latin American cuisine, or European relish. Chutney is more familiar in North America and Europe in a form that can be stored. To this end, vegetable oil, vinegar, or lemon juice are used to enhance the keeping properties.

Chutney is a delectable accompaniment to roasted and grilled meats, fish and Indian curry dishes. Delicious on a cracker with hard or soft cheeses. Ideal as a marinade for the grill. Although chutney is most widely known as a condiment originating in India, the concept has spread worldwide and mutated to suit local needs. The term chutney that comes from the East Indian Chatni, meaning “strongly spiced”, and is described as a condiment which usually consists of a mix of chopped fruits, vinegar, spices and sugar cooked into a chunky spread.

Apricot Chutney (Khubani ki Chutney)
Ingredients:
Dried Apricots – 200gms; soaked overnight in 1 cup of water (soaking is optional)
Golden raisins – 1/4 cup (chopped)
Water – 1/4 cup
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Brown sugar – 1/2 cup
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Malt vinegar – 1 cup
Roasted red chili flakes – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Method:

  • Chop up the soaked apricots as fine or as chunky as you’d like your chutney to be.
  • Put all the ingredients into a medium saucepan and mix together thoroughly. (If you haven’t soaked the apricots overnight, add a cup of water)
  • Bring to boil, low the heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • When the chutney has thickened to a fairly thick consistency, transfer into a clean jam jar.
  • Allow to cool. Close the lid and store refrigerated.
  • Note: Chutneys are very accommodating! Eyeball amounts as you like. Add or omit ingredients as you desire. Keep the vinegar as it acts as a preservative. Orange zest, candied ginger, grated apples, cranberries, pepper…anything can be added. That’s the joy of chutney. Be sure to taste it all along…it’s very satisfying of course, addictive too, but goes on to tell you if you need to balance the sweetness etc!!
  • Serving suggestions : A perfect accompaniment to roasted / grilled meat and fish, game and curry dishes. Great as a marinade for grilling, or as a dip with tortilla chips. Delicious spread with hard or soft cheeses, petit four toppings etc.

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Posted by Deeba @ PAB

MANGO JELLY MOUSSE WITH CHOCOLATE…bidding a sweet farewell!

“I love fruit, when it is expensive.”
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero
The mango season cometh, & now, the mango season goeth!! I think it’s now sadly the fag end of the much touted & celebrated mango season in India…& all stone fruits have beaten a retreat one by one. We are enjoying the last clutch of pretty expensive mangoes which are tortuously bidding us adieu…which meant it was time to make a mangoee something with chocolate for Meeta’s What’s For Lunch Honey? for her event, Monthly Mingle August 2008: Fruit & Chocolate. She called for a combination of fruit & chocolate & I thought this up on a day I had been run desperately up the wall by my pre-teen!! I was ready to burst, so I took self-imposed exile, thought it better to positively use my angry energy & thought this combination up. Recharged & ready to go…I made this Mango Jelly Mousse with Chocolate! It was light, fresh & delicious. I was thrilled because it tasted really nice. Dressed it up with some bling, thanks to an idea I saw at Helen’s @ Tartlette, where she used beaten silver paper sheets to garnish.

The good thing about this fruity delight is that it can me made in advance & can sit in the fridge for 2-3 days. I dare say it would taste great with passion fruit too…just a thought over the top of my head, since we don’t get passion fruit in India.

While on the fruit story, let me share with you pictures of an old man who comes by my door religiously every morning at 8am with a rickety old cart full of lovingly arranged fruit. He gets up at 3 every morning, goes to the wholesale bazaar (mandi) & picks up his fruit. Even though I get my fruit from my regular fruit & vegetable vendor, I always buy something from him. He’s here every single morning with a hope in his heart. How can I let him down? Take a look. I also took a picture of the rickety old broken scale he uses…everything goes for weights, even stones!! LOL!!

And the next picture is of an old village lady who decided to join in with the photography blitz. She was just walking down the road selling stuff from the basket on her head. The list of stuff on sale was more than even Walmart would store under their roof!! It was hilarious…she was insistent that I just take a look at her wares. I didn’t as I was in a hurry, but I took some pictures nevertheless as she was very excited to be snapped.The poor fruit seller was not to happy man to lose his 5 minutes of fame to a lady who stole his thunder!!


Back to the recipe for Meeta…
 Mango Jelly Mousse with Chocolate
Ingredients:

Mango pulp – of 5 mangoes / sieved
Chocolate ganache – 1/2 cup
Gelatin – 3 tsps
Cream – 100 ml
Powdered sugar – 1 tbsp
Slivered almonds & pistachios , beaten silver sheets

Method:

  • Blend the mango chunks with an immersion blender & sieve for fibres.
  • Put the gelatin in 1/4 cup of boiling water, mix well & let is sit for 2 minutes until dissolved.
  • Put a tbsp of ganache into each wine glass & gently swirl around to spread.
  • Whisk the gelatin well into the mango pulp.
  • Put into the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set.
  • Pour over mango pulp into each glass & chill for an hour for the mango pulp to set.
  • Top each glass with a tsp of whipped cream & garnish with slivered almonds & pistachios.
  • Top with some beaten silver paper (chandi ka vark) if desired.
  • Chill until served.

A refreshing, light & elegant dessert!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

BEANS THAT ARE GREEN,GREENS THAT ARE BEANS…FRENCH BEANS

“I came to love my rows, my beans, though so many more than I wanted. They attached me to the earth, and so I got strength like Antaeus.”
Henry David Thoreau

From beans high on vodka, to beans of another kind…green beans or string beans. Meals are always a challenge. The need to introduce greens of any kind is usually on top of my agenda, but one runs the risk of the same thing mundanely showing up. I like to work string beans into the menu this way or that, because they are available the year through, especially in our HOT summer months that seem to drag on forever. The other perennial choice being spinach, but sadly the Popeye magic didn’t work on my kids for long.
Green common beans are also called string beans, stringless beans (depending on whether the pod has a tough, fibrous “string” running along its length), or snap beans. Compared to the dry beans, they provide less starch and protein, and more vitamin A and vitamin C. The green beans are often steamed, stir-fried, or baked in casseroles.
This is one simple way & flavourful way of serving beans on the side…
French Beans with Bell Peppers & Onions (as adapted from the Indira Roderick’s recipe from the TOI, dated 18 Jul ’08) .
Ingredients:
French beans – 400 gms topped & tailed & cut into 2″ pieces
Onion – 2 large, sliced thickish
Yellow bell pepper – 1; julienned
Red bell pepper – 1 ; julienned
Garlic – 2-3 cloves
Freshly ground pepper
Sea salt
Olive Oil – 3 tbsps
Method:
  • Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C.
  • Blanch the beans in a pan of boiling water for 4-5 minutes, drain & immediately plunge into ice-cold water. Reserve.
  • Toss the julienned bell peppers & onion slices in 2 tbsps of olive oil; season with sea salt & freshly ground pepper. lay in a single layer on a baking sheet & roast for 15-20 minutes, tossing in between, to ensure even roasting.
  • Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a pan, saute the chopped garlic for a minute, then add the blanched beans & stir fry for a minute till heated right through. Toss in the roasted peppers & onions & mix well.
  • Serve hot or at room temperature.

Another no fail way is a simpler & quicker one, which works like magic every time… Steamed Beans in Cream Cheese…a recipe from my Sis-in-Law

  • All you need to is blanch the beans till tender crisp.
  • Drain & put into a large bowl. Toss in 1-2 tbsps of cream-cheese / cheese spread, season with salt & pepper…& you’re ready to go.

My third spin on green beans is an Indian stir-fry. Simple again…

  • Heat a little oil. Toss in 1 tsp each of cumin seeds & mustard seeds.
  • Put in chopped french beans, simmer for 4-5 minutes/ till crisp tender. Then stir fry till nice & dry with some roasted cumin powder. Season with salt. Garnish with fresh grated coconut if you like.

How do you eat your beans???

Beans that are green; greens that are beans…eat more beans!

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Posted by Deeba @ PAB

MAKE MINE SAVOURY…A GALETTE WITH A DIFFERENCE!

“He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise. ”

Henry David Thoreau

Savoury Spinach, Tomato & Cheese Galette

The happy feeling the rustic Peach & Plum Galette gave me was indescribable. High on confidence, I decided to venture further & make what I would possibly love … a savoury version of sorts. Donno what the purists of the pastry world would call this, forgive me if I have erred, but I called this a savoury galette.

Since it’s screaming the colour RED, am sending this off as an entry to Sunshine Mom for her event Food In Colour.

Her colour of choice for the month of August is RED!!

There was spinach & cottage cheese in the fridge which I very much wanted to use, & was in the mood for some sort of experimentation. I used my giant flower shaped cookie cutters to cut out the 6″ shapes…great opportuntiy coz I don’t think I would contemplate 6″ cookies otherwise! A 6″ circle cutter, or a platter would work as a guide beautifully too.

My permutations worked well!! The daughter & the rest of us LOVED these…

…though the lad preferred it without spinach, which defied the very purpose of nutrition & adding the blessed leaves! Sadly enough, the Popeye magic doesn’t work anymore, so I tried to pass off the spinach tucked underneath as basil! The son pulled every bit out ( though I made him eat the bits)…who did I think I was trying to kid anyway!! Aaaaaaargh!!

The boy loved the sans spinach small bites that I made with the left over dough scraps. Cut them out in shapes of small flowers & hearts!

Savoury Spinach, Tomato & Cheese Galette
Ingredients:
Topping:
Cottage Cheese – 200 gms
Spinach – 1 bunch; tender leaves / chopped
Nutmeg – 1/2 tsp; grated fresh
Garlic – 2-3 cloves ; chopped
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Tomatoes – 3-4 sliced
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
Baby Gouda Cheese or any cheese of your choice
Fresh basil for garnishing

Dough:
Coarse Cornmeal – 1 cup
Flour – 2 1/4 cup
Dried mixed herbs – 1 tbsp
Sea salt- 1 tsp
Butter – 3/4 cup , chilled; cut up
Buttermilk – a little less than 1/2 cup

To make the dough:

  • Combine flour, cornmeal, herbs and salt in a processor; pulse 2-3 times. Add butter and pulse 4-5 times, or until mixture resembles coarse meal.
  • With the processor running, slowing pour the buttermilk through the chute, processing until the dough forms a ball. (Stop adding buttermilk when it begins to clump up around the blades. My dough got a bit sticky so I had to add extra flour in the end. Worked fine eventually.)
  • Remove the dough ball and adhere any remaining pieces of dough to it, then divide into 2 balls, wrap in plastic & refrigerate for an hour.

  • For the topping, heat oil & saute garlic. Add spinach leaves, nutmeg & generous sprinkling of salt. Saute till the spinach wilts. Allow to cool a bit & then leave in a colander to get rid of the extra liquid; otherwise the pastry will get soggy.
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Roll out the dough a thin or thick as you like. I like my pastry thin, as I like my pizza base. I got 6 6″ flower/circle shapes out of each ball. If you like the base thick, you’ll get a generous 4 out of each ball. Use the remaining pastry to cut out smaller shapes. Alternatively, you can make savoury petit fours as finger food with the entire dough. Place the pastry on the prepared baking sheet.
  • Spread a little spinach on the cut-out base. Grate cottage cheese all over, leaving a 1/2″ border around, top with tomatoes, grate some Gouda, mozzarella or cheddar etc, season with sea salt & freshly ground pepper. garnish with fresh basil.
  • Bake at 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

MY BLOG TURNED 1…MARKING MY MILESTONE WITH STONE-FRUIT!

“Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time.”
Jean Paul Richter

I’M GLAD TO BE 1 !!

It’s been a while; I’ve finally crawled in & turned 1….after everyone & their cousin’s blogs have done it. Been waiting for long enough to reach the BIG 1. From being the new kid on the block in August last year, to being part of this GREAT community, it’s been an enjoyable & eye-opening journey. I’ve made fantastic friends, filled my days & nights with blog addiction & blog panic, met beautiful people, crossed virtual borders, peeped into kitchens, indulged in cuisines unheard of in my kitchen, won a couple of blog events, raised a happy tummy family…enjoyed FOOD, FUN & FRIENDS like never before.
Marking my milestone…
…with a Stone-fruit Crumble!
Thought I would celebrate my milestone with a yummy stone-fruit crumble… in these little ceramic pots that I fell in love with the minute I saw them. I bought them instead of ramekins which I had actually gone to buy!I used a combination of mangoes & peaches for the fruit filling… with some ginger & cinnamon to add adventure to the taste. We loved how it turned out. The kids had theirs with vanilla ice-cream, & we sang for my blog with a dollop of unsweetened cream!
The crumble was good enough to eat on it’s own. I added pistachio nuts to it this time, instead of almonds. The burst of colour from within was a visual treat!

Today was also special for another reason. Delightfully, my dear friend Amy’s son’s birthday also falls today.

Happy Birthday Gianluca…have a WONDERFUL WONDERFUL day!

MANGO-PEACH CRUMBLE with PISTACHIOS
adapted from the earlier recipe of a Peach-Plum Crisp posted here
Ingredients:
Crumble:
Brown sugar – 1/2cup
Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp
Ginger powder – 1 tsp
Flour – 1/4 cup
Rolled oats – 1/2 cup
Pistachio nuts – 1/2 cup; chopped
Melted butter – 4 tbsps

Fruit filling:

Mangoes – 3-4 / firm; chopped
Peaches – 5-6 / pitted & chopped
Fresh ginger – 1 small piece / minced
Cinnamon – 1 tsp
Brown sugar – 1/2 cup
Cornflour – 2 tbsps
Method :
  • For the crumble, mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add melted butter & mix well.
  • For the fruit filling, put everything in a bowl & mix well.
  • Divide between 8 ramekins with the fruit filling. Top evenly with crumble.
  • Bake at 180 degrees C for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream, mascarpone, or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Off to Ben’s @ What’s Cookin US this goes for his ‘I Love Baking’ event, a baking event for baking loving people. It’s fun…coz there are no rules; something BAKED is the only criteria! Ben loves anything & everything mango, so this has to be on his event!!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB
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